Beautiful
by zElliexmagic
Summary: Levy doesn't think she's beautiful like all her friends, but does that really matter? GaLe


**Hey guys! It's been a little while. I caught a cold so I've been resting and playing games. Sorry! Also, it took a little while writing this GaLe story, but I think it ended up pretty good. The only thing bad about it is that Gajeel is OOC in a certain part. It's when he's talking to Levy. You'll probably notice it and I'm sorry for that, but I didn't know how else to make this work so I just stuck with it. Anyway, I hope you (yes, you, Blue Star) and everybody else enjoys this!**

 **Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Fairy Tail. I wish I did though *sniff sniff***

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Beautiful

 _Requested by Blue Star_

Levy always thought of herself as "unloved". Well, not counting her friends. Her mother died when she was young and her father had abused and disowned her.

Luckily, her best friend, Lucy, took her in and lived together as roommates. Lucy and Levy got along very well because they have the same back story and similar personality.

Levy's other friends were just as amazing as Lucy was (but didn't share the same personality and back story). Erza's strong will could scare people into obeying her, Mira's gentle and kind voice cheers up any sad person, Lisanna's shy spirit gives people courage, Cana's confidence made everyone believe, Juvia's faith - that Gray would someday love her - gave people hope that their own crushes will one day crush back, and of course, Lucy's vanity (one of the only traits she and Levy didn't share) made most girls look at themselves and say, "I'm beautiful too!"

Levy's smartness helps people make better choices. That's what her friends say to her. Levy sometimes likes to think that too, but at this moment, she felt dumb.

All of Levy's friends had one thing in common: beauty. They were all tall, had beautiful hair, big breasted, had clear skin, and so much more.

All of this, Levy lacked.

Every time her friends and she walked down the hallway at Fairy Academy, every single one of her friends would disappear in a crowd of boys as she stood at the sideline. This is why she thought of herself as "unloved". The boys chased her friends, but not her. Levy's friends knew they were popular, but paid no attention to it.

At first, none of this bothered Levy. In fact, she hasn't even given it a single thought.

But she realized this as a boy, by the name of Loke, shoved her out of the way to get to Lucy.

When Levy hit the ground that day, a thousand thoughts ran through her head and she was in the bathroom crying while staring at her reflection. She was the exactly opposite of her friends. She was short, had a flat-chest, thick hair, and even with makeup, you could see small blackheads. One thing was for sure: Levy was nowhere near the word "pretty".

So, here she was, sitting on the swing set, sulking, and feeling totally dumb. No idea was coming to her head about what to do in this situation.

According to every person's love story, God planned on this to happen. If it didn't, a certain someone probably would've never noticed her.

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Gajeel first saw her - just like in every high school love story - walking down the hall with all of her beautiful friends - no, this was not love at first sight. Gajeel, along with every other boy was staring at the girls, admitted to himself that they were pretty, but none of them were his type…actually, he didn't really have a type. Girls rarely catch his interest.

Once Gajeel saw Levy, his thoughts were, " _What is a shrimp like her doing with a bunch_ _of chicks?_ "

As the boys swarmed around the Shrimp's friends, he couldn't help but notice her walking away from the crowd with sadness in her eyes. Gajeel, despite his "tough guy" act on all the time, felt sorry for her.

That was a week ago. Today, on a Sunday, Gajeel was forced to come along with his idiotic frienemies. Natsu the dense idiot wanted to eat at a restaurant and dragged Gray, Elfman, and he along with him. Not that he minded though. The bad part was that Natsu was more stupid that Gajeel thought: he didn't bring any money. After playing a couple rounds of rock, paper, scissors, Gajeel had to pay over 50,000J for all the food Natsu devoured. He was not happy.

Gajeel and his frienemies were on their way to Gray's house to watch TV, but on their way, Gajeel happened to glance left at the children playing in the park and someone caught his eyes.

"Hey…She's that one girl…"

"Yo, Metalhead! You talking to yourself _again_?"

Gajeel gritted his teeth, "Shut up, Pinkie!"

"You wanna go?!"

Before they each threw a punch, Elfman pushed them apart, "A real man doesn't fight on the sidewalk next to the street! Wait till we get to Gray's."

Natsu and Gajeel grumbled and continued walking.

Gajeel turned around to glance once more at the girl, wondering why she was all alone without her friends on the swing set. He froze when his place when he saw tears. He couldn't force himself to keep walking, especially when she's alone and crying. Gajeel glanced at his frienemies a few feet away then back at the girl. With a sigh, he turned to his frienemies, "Hey guys!"

Pink, white, and black heads turned to him. "Hurry up, Slowpoke!" Gray shouted.

"You guys go on without me! I gotta deal with something."

Before the three of them could speak, Gajeel waved them off. "Go on without me," he repeated. "I'll meet you guys at the house."

They glanced at each other, shrugged, turned around, and kept walking.

Gajeel made his way toward the swing set, dodging kids screaming in delight. When he got close enough he called out, "Hey Shrimp!"

Levy's blue head popped up and looked around. Her vision was blurry because of the tears. As she wiped them away, an angry scowl made itself known on her face. Here she was, wallowing in self-pity about how unattractive she was, and some random person calls her a shrimp?! How dare he?! Glancing around, Levy saw no one, but children running around the playground.

"I'm right behind you."

A shiver ran down her spine when the voice sounded next to her ear. She turned and looked up at the man. Her eyes widened when she saw his face. This wasn't just "some random person", this was Gajeel Redfox, one of the most popular guys in her high school.

Gajeel wasn't necessarily good-looking, but his bad boy reputation is known and loved by all. If girls didn't crush on him, they were either insane or crushing on Natsu or Gray, who were _extremely_ good-looking. Though one's an idiot and the other a stripper, girls still swooned over them.

That's another problem Levy had: she didn't crush on Natsu, Gray, _or_ Gajeel. So, she's considered "insane".

Gajeel looked down at the bluenette, "Whacha doing out here all by yourself crying?"

"W-what? I'm not crying!"

"Liar."

Levy grumbled and turned away as Gajeel took a seat on the swing next to her. "So what's up?"

"Why would I tell you? I don't even know you…besides your name and reputation."

"Oh? You know me?"

"Yeah, you're Gajeel Redfox. I go to Fairy Academy. I've seen you and your friends before."

Gajeel grunted, "They're not my friends."

"Seems like it to me. You're always with them…except now. Where are they?"

"On their way to the Underwear King's palace." Levy laughed at his words. Gajeel turned to her as the sound reached his ears…it was pretty… "Speaking of friends, I've seen your with yours walking down the hall," Levy's laugh faded.

"You have?"

"Yup and more than once. Every time the boys crowd in on your friends, you walk away all upset. You must be jealous."

"I am not!" Levy erupted in a furious blush, embarrassed that she was found out.

"Is that why you were crying a minute ago?"

"No!...Maybe…Yes."

"You're jealous because you want guys to like you?"

"Not necessarily. I just…all my friends are so pretty and I'm so short!"

Gajeel rubbed his chin understandably, "Ah! I see now!"

"Yeah! Wait," Levy blinked before realizing. "Why am I even telling you this?!"

Gajeel ignored her. "I don't know much about you, Shrimp, but-"

"It's Levy, Levy McGarden, not Shrimp."

He grunted and started over, "I don't know much about you, _Levy_ , but looks honestly don't matter. Sure, being pretty and stuff is a gift, but it doesn't matter. Honestly, Inner-beauty is much more important and noticeable than any amount of makeup or clothing. You shouldn't worry about that. Focus on what's inside."

Levy blinked twice as his words processed into her brain. Gajeel Redfox the bad boy of school just said something genius and full of truth. That's something you don't see everyday.

" _I guess he may put on a 'tough guy' act, but on the inside, he's a big teddy-bear._ "

Before she could say anything, Gajeel spoke again, "But, just so you know, I personally think you're much more beautiful than any of your friends."

Gajeel blushed at his words and turned away to hide it, catching Levy off guard again. A smile spread over her face as the feelings of unloved, unattractive, and others left her with the breeze that passed by. "Thanks, Gajeel. That means a lot to me."

Gajeel grunted in reply and stood up from the swing, "I gotta catch up with the idiots."

"Okay," Levy stood up too, thinking it was time for her to go as well. She told Lucy she was going to the grocery store as an excuse to mope in the park. She's been gone for about an hour so she better buy a few things and head back. "Thanks for cheering me up."

"Don't worry about it."

Levy held out her hand and Gajeel shook it. "It was nice meeting you, Gajeel. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"You too," Gajeel smiled and disappeared around a brick wall.

In the hand that Levy shook Gajeel's with, was a small slip of paper. Levy raised an eyebrow at it and opened it up.

"XXX-XXX-XXXX

Call me later

-Gajeel"

Levy smiled and looked the way he disappeared. " _I'll have to rethink my decision about crushing on him,_ " she thought with a smile.

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 **And there you go! It's kinda a life lesson actually because seriously people, beauty is a gift to certain people, but it doesn't matter. The inner-beauty matters most. It's you who can decide how beautiful you can be on the inside. Hope you guys enjoyed this! Love yall!**

 **-zEllie**


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